28/08/17: Finchley Nurseries garden centre

We walked into Totteridge and found the secret boating lake. On the path around the water there were two older ladies struggling to cross a fallen tree. We started chatting and walked along with them. They were also trying to find their way to the Finchley Nurseries garden centre and were unsure of the route. 

After looping around the lake we found a path back towards Mill Hill (1) over the open fields, past a herd of cows, with the ladies still in tow. 

At the far side of the cow field we saw the famous "rat poison" sign. (2)

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"I like your hat!" joked an old lady at the gate at the edge of the field. It might be OK for a hipster teen to insult my (non-)fashion sense, but it seemed a bit extreme coming from an old lady! The hat must be really bad, I realised. To recap...

I had bought a straw hat in Austria to avoid sunburn and sunstroke. It lasted all the way back to London, until the very last leg of the journey. I was waiting on the northbound Northern Line tube platform when a sudden gust of wind from the tunnel tugged the hat off my head and saw it sail swiftly down to the trench beneath the rails. I later filled in a lost-property form – mainly for sentimental reasons (it had zero actual value) – but unsurprisingly there was no response to that (see below). I'm hoping that it made a decent nest for a family of mice. Anyway, I found myself without a hat. Yesterday, at the Brookmans Park boot sale. I found a stall selling vinyl albums for cheaper than anyone else (£1 a go). Not only that, but they were far better albums than those on the overpriced stalls. I started going through the whole lot but was burning badly. Seeing that he had a committed customer, the kindly stall holder gave me one of the inexpensive hats he was selling. It was ludicrous: a pistachio-green-coloured plastic item suitable for a small child. In fact, for a small girl. It didn't fit and it made me instantly hot and uncomfortable, but it protected my head long enough for me to be able to buy an excellent selection of records. It was this same daft hat that I was wearing today when the old lady commented on it... 

At the garden centre (3) we had tea and toasted sandwiches at the café. Two birds of prey were circling high above. I saw two dragonflies (mating). 

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In the main garden centre shop we met two of the several cats that live there. One was feasting on cat food and emitted a low growl when approached. (4) A member of staff warned that he was "naughty" and would scratch. The second cat was far friendlier and allowed himself to be stroked. (5)
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We walked home. There were plenty of walkers out by this point, many of them with large dogs. It was very, very hot. Luckily, I had my hat. (6)
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Miles walked: 3.82 

Cats spotted: 2